Beirut, Lebanon- Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, will travel to Lebanon for the funeral of long-time Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday, Iranian media reported.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to turn out in Beirut for the commemoration of the Iran-backed group’s leader.
An Israeli airstrike killed Nasrallah in September at the start of an all-out war between his group and Israel after roughly a year of lower-level conflict.
The massive strike on Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold also killed Abbas Nilforoushan, a senior commander in Iran’s Quds Force — the foreign operations arm of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Ghalibaf “along with several parliamentarians and state officials will leave on Sunday for Lebanon to attend Nasrallah’s funeral,” member of parliament Alireza Salimi told the official IRNA news agency on Saturday.
On Friday evening, the Fars news agency reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would also attend the ceremony
Sunday’s funeral will also be for Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah and senior Hezbollah figure who had been chosen to succeed Nasrallah before he too was killed in an Israeli strike in October.
The funeral is to begin at 1 p.m. at Camille Chamoun sports stadium in Beirut It will include a speech by current Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem and is to be followed by a procession to Nasrallah’s burial site between the old and new Beirut airport road
Saffiedine will be buried later in his hometown of Deir Qanun in south Lebanon.
Hezbollah has said 79 countries would be involved in the commemoration, whether at an official or “popular” level. Airlines have increased flights to Beirut to deal with demand.
Nasrallah and Safieddine had been temporarily buried elsewhere because of security concerns, Qassem said, and the group had also put off the public funeral for security reasons. Shiite Muslim rites provide for such a temporary burial when circumstances prevent a proper funeral or the deceased cannot be buried where they wished.
Nasrallah led Hezbollah since 1992
Banners depicting the slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah (C), his deputy Hashem Safieddine (C-L) and other slain Hezbollah commanders are displayed on Beirut Airport Road, in Beirut on February 19, 2025. (Anwar Amro/AFP)
Hezbollah is part of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” an alliance of forces united in their support for Iran, it is also a member of Iran’s Quds Force
In October 2023, Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel without provocation, saying it was doing so to express solidarity with fellow axis member Hamas during the Gaza war. The war in Gaza broke out when Hamas fighters invaded Israel, killing some 1,139 people and kidnapping 251.
Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern Israel shortly after Hamas’s October 7 attack, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and because of the increasing rocket fire by the group.
Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel since October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 46 civilians. In addition, 80 IDF soldiers and reservists were killed in cross-border skirmishes, attacks on Israel and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.
The IDF estimates that some 3,500 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon.
Israeli troops have largely withdrawn from Lebanon since the implementation of the ceasefire, but remain in five strategic hills.
News Agencies